Escape to Freedom
by Cake Mage
Summary: Hwin's thoughts on Aravis and on her life in Calormen leading up to their escape. Written for the Yuletide 2006 challenge.


Hwin was, above all else, a very sensible Horse and always had been. When she'd been captured as a tiny foal, she had very sensibly kept her mouth shut, as it were, regarding her true nature. She had also very sensibly kept out of trouble and behaved well for her handlers. In this regard she was perhaps too sensible, for a horse of her quality could get away with a fair amount of mischief without being punished too harshly for it. Still, she was not the type of mare to take unnecessary risks, and so she accepted first the halter, then the bridle, then the saddle and finally the rider all without more than a few token protests.

She was a fine saddle horse by anyone's standards and she knew this well, though it brought her little joy. Still, she supposed she had little reason to complain; she was groomed and exercised daily, fed the best oats in all of Calormen and was, on the whole, treated very well by her masters. It was not by any means a bad life, but for a Talking Horse of Narnia it certainly wasn't a good life either.

By age seven she had all but given up hope of ever being rescued and had resigned herself to a life of carrying Tarkheenas on hunts and pleasure jaunts. Her life took a definite change for the better, however, when she was given to young Aravis Tarkheena for her thirteenth birthday.

Aravis was different from any human she had ever known in Calormen. Unlike the Tarkheenas who had ridden her before, Aravis hadn't the least bit of interest in the social aspects of riding or the status symbols that horses were, but rather loved riding just for the sake of riding, and she loved Hwin as much as any girl has ever loved her horse. Much to Hwin's surprise, she soon found that she loved Aravis in return.

Aravis was a child who had borne many sorrows, and they had made her as cold, hard and unbending as steel. Hwin had seen that part of her from the moment they first met, and was afraid that Aravis would end up treating her badly. Her fears were completely put to rest, however, when she and Aravis first rode out alone together. Quite apart from the fact that she was a skilled and sensitive rider, Aravis seemed to undergo a complete metamorphosis when she was on Hwin. She smiled and laughed and seemed to temporarily forget all of her troubles. Aravis lived for their time together, whether they were galloping through a meadow, leaping over hedges, splashing through brooks or simply strolling down a bridle path.

Though it was hard for her to admit, Hwin lived for Aravis as well. For the first time since she'd been captured, she felt real joy. She hadn't thought it possible to be happy when she was so far from home, and yet here she was, nickering enthusiastically every time she saw her young mistress and enjoying their time together as much as Aravis did. She understood the girl better than anyone else, and she felt that on some level Aravis understood her too. For though Aravis never spoke to her the way some girls speak to their horses—telling the mare her secrets and her feelings and generally using her as a living diary—Hwin always seemed to know exactly what her young mistress was thinking and feeling simply by the way she moved in the saddle.

Before she'd been kidnapped, Hwin's mother had taught her to never eavesdrop on the conversations of others, but unfortunately it is impossible not to do so in a stable, where gossip flows like water. So it came to be that one day she chanced to hear two stable-boys talking about her mistress' betrothal to Ahoshta Tarkaan. As she listened her heart broke, for she knew this was not a fate Aravis had chosen for herself. So it came as no surprise to Hwin that Aravis' mood was grey and stormy when next she saw her, nor did it surprise her that it remained so even as they rode along their favorite path.

However, she did not realize just how bleak Aravis' outlook had become until she dismounted, drew a dagger from her pack and prepared to end her own life. Hwin knew then that she had to intervene, even though it could cost her dearly. She gathered her courage and proceeded to do the least sensible thing she'd ever done. She spoke.

She begged and implored Aravis to stay her hand and even thrust her head in-between the girl and the dagger, not caring whether she got hurt or whether Aravis would betray her. She only knew that she could not let her first and only friend in this country do such a thing. Hwin's pleas softened Aravis' heart and she lowered the dagger. At that moment, she began to see her mare in a whole new light.

Though she had many questions for Hwin, Aravis gave no sign of wanting to use her newfound knowledge against her, much to Hwin's relief. She spoke to the mare as an equal, which is something that had never happened to her before, and Hwin found that she quite liked it. She found herself sharing all of her memories of Narnia, which were as fresh in her mind as if she had never left. She was pleased to find that Aravis was listening to her stories very intently, and her heart simply soared when the girl announced that she wished to escape to Narnia.

They remained in that clearing for many hours, carefully weighing their options and ultimately settling on a plan. As soon as they had made their final decision they set off for the place they no longer thought of as home. From that point on, time seemed to move slowly for Hwin; there was nothing she could do but wait for Aravis' return and think about everything that could go wrong. She began to pace nervously in her stall, then stopped herself in case she needed the energy later. The stable-boy came with her food and though she had no appetite, she ate every bit of it so as not to appear out of the ordinary.

The hours passed and night fell, and nothing happened. Hwin supposed she must have dozed off, for when she awoke Aravis was in her stall, holding all of her tack. Within minutes Aravis was leading Hwin out of the stable, then she was slipping into the saddle and they were gone.

As they trotted down the road to Azim Balda on that first night, a curious feeling stole over them both. It was a feeling neither Hwin nor Aravis had felt in a long while, and one that they hadn't thought they'd ever feel again. All at once both horse and human remembered what that feeling was. What they felt was freedom.

The End


End file.
